Star Wars: The Jedi Heresy
by LordAdral
Summary: Over 1000 years after the Battle of Yavin, the use of the Force has been outlawed. After receiving a call to research on the ancient planet of Korriban, a young man stumbles upon a secret that will change his understanding of the history of the galaxy forever.
1. Prologue

I've written Fan fictions in the past, but never posted them to a site such as this. Please read and review, and while this is only the beginning, I hope people will enjoy what I have started. While this prologue is very vague on where the story will lead, I promise it will head into something very interesting and fantastic and in line with the spirit of the Star Wars universe. I do not own the rights to Star Wars, and I am only using its material as inspiration for what I have created.

Enjoy.

_

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away...

It is a time of peace in the galaxy. For over 1000 years the galaxy has seen relatively little conflict; many historians attribute this to the Peace Accords of Corellia in 346 ABY. Within that event, one key clause rang louder than the rest: Everything relating to the Force is outlawed. Any individual with a high medichlorian count is tagged and watched to ensure that they do not use the force beyond what they can naturally achieve. Furthermore, steps are taken to eliminate all literature on the Force and its nature.

Within 10 years following this event, the Jedi Order is nonexistent. The Sith have also finally disappeared. Finally, nonusers of the force have triumphed in removing those they believed to have caused the majority of conflict for over 7000 years.

In the present, 1451 ABY, the Jedi are just a figment of literature, tools in the stories to be used as great heroes and warriors. The Sith are their enemies. In history, the Galactic Civil War Era (Collectively lumped as 50 BBY to 200 ABY) is just that- history. The Jedi Purge are historical events, as well as the Yuzzhan Vong War. In fact, the Yuzzhan Vong are now proper members of Galactic society, having been welcomed into the galaxy at large from their home in the Unknown Regions on Zonoma Sekot a few decades after the Peace Accords of Corellia.

Most citizens of the galaxy don't think about the Force these days. While the laws are still stringent against it's use, every once in a while a magician shows up at a cantina able to levitate things with his mind, and those wel read know it to be of the force. But most think nothing of it, passing it off as a parlor trick or scientific illusion.

However, rumors that Jedi still existed within the galaxy persisted from those who believed the Jedi had been beings of good. These Jedi were awaiting the day when the Sith returned, so that their purpose in defeating the dark would once again be apparent to the galaxy, and the true nature of the force revealed.

Still others believe that the Jedi and Sith never existed at all, and that they are simple bed time stories to teach lessons to children at night.

Whatever the truth may be, this story begins with humble wrappings; a young human, Adral Casius, studies history at the University of Endor. In the weeks to follow, what happens to him will set in motion a change in the galaxy that has not been seen since the days of Luke Skywalker...

Adral Casius leaned back in his desk, extremely bored by the lecture Professor Bog'al was giving. Bog'al was a smart Hutt; and much more polite than most of his species, yet his lectures never ended. Furthermore, once again he was preaching about the "beauty and majesty" that was the Galactic Empire created by Emperor Palpatine.

"When we look at the events surrounding the Jedi Purge and the creation of Palpatine's empire," Bog'al said, "A meta analysis is often not given. Many people only examine the motives of Palpatine as a Sith; however, as a politician, it is important to understand that he also had reasons for forming the Empire into a military state." He paused for what he believed to be dramatic effect. "Well? can anyone tell me what one of those reasons was?"

Adral yawned. He knew Bog'al was referring to the reading required for lecture today; Adral had done it, though he assumed much of the rest of the class hadn't. When no one rose their hand, Adral raised his.

"Ah good. Adral. What do you think?" Bog'al asked.

"Well, when we examine the historical events surrounding Palpatines rise to power, we know two things," Adral said. "Palpatine had evidence of the pending Yuzzhan Vong invasion; Also, the Republic had no standing military force whatsoever other than the Jedi Order and planetary security forces."

Bog'al slid towards Adrals side of the room. "And what does that evidence tell us?" he asked.

Adral smirked. "It's simple. Palpatine used the Clone Wars to create a military on a galactic scale. However, he knew the Jedi would oppose the military existing in a standing fashion without concrete proof that the Yuzzhan Vong attack was coming. Therefore, the Jedi had to be removed from the picture. The change from a Republic to a military state Empire was necessary in order to prepare the galaxy for the invasion; Thus why we see the creation of so many Star Destroyer class vessels as well as super weapons such as the Death Star."

Bog'al looked at Adral. "Very good, very good. All right class, this last question, if answered sufficiently, will allow all of you to leave class early today." Bog'al's huge, bulbous eyes bored into Adral. "If Palpatine was preparing for a galactic invasion, why would he keep the invasion a secret from everyone? Furthermore, why not keep the Jedi under his thrall, allowing for some of the best warriors in the galaxy to be used as his pawns against the incoming enemy force?"

Adral smiled. He had written a paper on this two part topic for his elective, _The Yuzzhan Vong: An analysis of their Culture and the War, _over the summer, and he knew Bog'al knew that. _Looks like he is being nice today, _Adral thought.

He looked at the Hutt. "It's a complicated issue. First, creating a massive military force, in Palpatine's sith inspired philosophy, would be easier done through fear than through panic. He quickly fortified each system and sector with planetary governors and moffs. Most assuredly, famous figures like Thrawn most likely knew of the invasion; Thus why Palpatine sent Thrawn into the unknown regions of the time to create a fortified sector out there." Adral paused, scratching his chin.

"Most likely, the reason why Palpatine didn't keep the Jedi under his sway is the same reason why he turned Darth Vader to his side. Any Jedi would oppose Palpatine, even if they thought helping his plan was for the right reasons. Its the problem that we always face when talking about the Sith and Jedi; their very existence requires them to fight one another. Therefore, to ensure as little conflict as possible over the next decades before the invasion, Palpatine had to remove them from the picture, even if it was possible to turn many of them to his side through a long bloody Sith vs. Jedi War. He would have made up for the loss of such great warriors through the various super weapons he would be able to build in the decades of peace that followed."

Bog'al nodded approvingly. "Wonderful answer, Adral. A few final comments before ending class. As Adral so elequently put, Palpatine's Empire would have stood as a great fortress against the Yuzzhan Vong, most likely having the capability to defeat them soundly before they broke through the Outer Rim. However, as you all should know from basic history classes, this was unable to happen because of the rebellion that followed. For tomorrow, I want an essay detailing three key events of the rebellion years that dismantled the galaxy's military to a point that was unable to cope with the Yuzzhan Vong invasion, at least at first. Dismissed." Bog'al slowly moved out of the room, heading towards his office.

Adral stood up, heading towards the door leading out into the hallway. He walked out of the building, and crossed the main plaza to head toward his apartment. The university itself was a magnificent complex; built over 400 standard years prior, it stood amongst the hills of Endor surrounded by the extremely tall trees. Bought by a wealthy entrepenuer at some point during the centuries following the famous Battle of Endor, the planet stayed relatively uninhabited besides the various Ewok tribes living on the planet. Over time, however, a small bustling spaceport arose, and eventually some researchers decided to create a university on the planet, seeing it as a very ideal location to promote learning given its unmolested atmosphere.

Adral, a human of 20 years of age, had come to the University of Endor originally seeking a degree in Hyperdrive science but switched his degree of study into History and Archeology after taking a few history classes during his first year. Now in his final year of study, Adral was looking forward to finally getting off this annoying forested moon. The only enjoyable thing about the planet was the presence of the Ewoks; even after almost a millenium of having an increased galactic presence on their planet, they still managed to maintain many aspects of their tribal culture. In some of his free time, Adral would visit the closest Ewok villages. He greatly enjoyed hearing their legend of the Great War; what the rest of the galaxy knew as the Battle of Endor, they knew as the greatest battle ever in which they defeated 'the great metal warriors with logs and sticks'. Mentions of a great Golden God were rampant as well, which Adral believed to be a reference to some droid the rebellion had with them.

reaching his apartment, Adral noticed a few messages on the datapad sitting on his kitchen counter. Walking over to it, he pressed the "receive" button. A small hologram of a twilek female arose out of the holoprojector on the datapad.

"Adral Casius: Congratulations! You've been selected as a winner of our annual Sabbacc draw-" Adral deleted it, seeing it for the spam advertisement that it was. He selected the next message. This time, a formal looking human rose out of the projector.

"Adral, I would like to formally congratulate you on your acceptance to our research team. My name is Valus Garrin, the leader of this project. I've sent you in an attachment all the necessary information you need to know for transportation as well as necessary student research forms. Your professors have been notified of your absence from classes for the three weeks starting on Monday."

Adral couldn't believe it. He had actually been accepted to the research position. He wondered what planet they would assign him to; he was quite worried about that. While he was excited for a chance to work with sa famous archeologist such as Valus Garrin, he sincerely hoped he wasn't assigned to a planet like Tatooine. He barely listened to the rest of the message and the technical data; he would have time for that during transit. Adral went directly to the attached files, pulling up on the datapad's screen a description of his location and the research he would be doing there.

Adral laughed in surprise, not believing his luck. Not many people ever got security clearence to travel to a planet so entrenched in the history of Force Users.

He was traveling to Korriban, one of the famed ancient homeworlds of the Sith.


	2. Chapter 1: En Route to Korriban

Adral Casius sat at a table in the mess hall aboard the _Galactic Diamond_, a 2nd rate transportation cruiser. It had been 2 days since he left the University of Endor and the planet itself, and he was glad to be well into his trip. As he ate his meal, he stared out across the room. A myriad of species were represented in the mess hall, and he knew even more were scattered throughout the various compartments of the transport. He was quite surprised by the amount of sentients unloading at Korriban in a few days time; while he knew some of the individuals on the transport would be continuing onto another one of the transports destinations, the information on his digital boarding ticket on the holonet showed at least 100 persons unloading at Korriban.

_Korriban must have finally picked up popularity after centuries of being deserted by the Sith,_ he thought to himself.

As Adral sat, he read up on the details the holonet had to tell him about Korriban. In the almost 1000 year stretch since the Sith finally disappeared from Korriban, the landscape had drastically changed. While for some of that time it continued to remain uninhabited, a few centuries ago some corporations began buying the land to create factories and other useful structures. Since Korriban was mostly unoccupied, there was plenty of land to go around. Eventually, their expansion in certain areas prompted activist groups to work to defend important archeological sites. One of the most famous sites, the Valley of the Dark Lords, was where Adral was headed. Supposedly, his research team leader, Valus Garrin, had uncovered something groundbreaking in one of the tombs in regards to the history of the Sith and the people that had once inhabited the planet.

Adral continued to read further into the history of Korriban. Many millenia ago it had been a planet controlled by the Sith. Over a series of various wars, it was captured by the Old Republic, recaptured by the Sith, and then the cycle would repeat. At one time, a great Sith warrior academy had stood on the planet. The most recent Sith group to take to the planet, the One Sith, had finally been defeated in the years following the Peace Accords and the outlawing of the Force. While many of the Jedi had willingly laid down their arms, the Sith had not been so willing. However, brute force won out in the end (as well as some government contracted Jedi using their force abilities for a final time, Adral believed. Though that was never officially documented in the historical reports.)

Adral paused, thinking. There were three possibilities then, to what Valus' discovery could be. Either it had something to do with the Sith of a long time ago, from the ancient days of the Old Republic, or it had to do with the last Sith Order, the One Sith. Or... it could be something else entirely. Something that no one would expect to be found on Korriban. Adral suspected the latter; The information known about the Sith seemed in almost all respects to be complete. Coupled with what had been gleemed from various Jedi Archives following the outlawing of the Jedi (which Adral had read quite extensively), it didn't seem as if there was anything new that could be found that would be of significance.

_Perhaps its another Sith holocron_, Adral thought. _There are plenty of those along with Jedi holocrons sitting in museums. Too bad they are never studied extensively, since the museums never allow documented forcies in for fear of what might happen if their attunement accidentally activates one. _

It definitely can't be that, given the amount of them that had been catalogued over the years. _Unless its something unexpected in that realm, such as the existence of Sith within the past 1000 years._ Now that was some food for thought. If a Sith holocron (or Jedi holocron for that matter) had been created within the past 1000 years, then that would imply the existence of Sith or Jedi in the galaxy still, which would not go over well within the government. The general public wouldn't care; at this point, many of the citizens had glorified Jedi so much in their fictional stories that they would pass any record of them off as pseudoscience. The governmental higher ups knew better, though. They still enforced the force use ban rigidly, and knew what really to look out for when it came to a trained force user.

Adral himself was quite indifferent to the use of the force. While he understood how it theoretically worked and he was himself a study of its history in the form of the Sith and Jedi Orders, he completely agreed with the galactic ban on force use. It was from his historical study that this belief came, in fact. Almost every major war happened because the Jedi chose to stop a Sith, or a Sith tried to take power. And, inevitibly, the existence of the Jedi Order spawned the existence of Sith; On average, it seemed as at least 1 or 2 sith sprung from the loins of the Jedi Order each generation over the years. Darth Vader, Darth Caedus, Darth Krayt, to name a few.

Adral looked up. The droid waiter had finally brought him his lunch. It had taken much longer than the previous days, but the mess hall was much busier at this time of standard day. He had woken up later than usual, as he was trying adjust to Korriban's sleep cycle. As the droid wheeled away, Adral looked at the meal in front of him. A simple nutrient porridge with mineral water.

"Oh joy, my favorite," Adral said dryly out loud.

A bith, who appeared to be thoroughly enjoying his, looked across the table and snorted. Adral gave him a grunt in indifference, then took a spoonful. Fortunately, it had many flavorings within it; still, he liked his food to have substance to its appearance. That was the price of cheap transportation, however.

Adral went for his glass of water, then noticed a note resting under the cup. Hastily scrawled across a piece of paper, he read: _Meet me at the port observation deck in 1 hour. I am a friend, and I have interest in your research_. It was unsigned. Adral looked around the room for any sign of who the person could be, but the sea of species would give him no clues. Adral looked at the note, considering the possibilities. Confident that no harm could come from a simple meeting with this secretive individual, he finished his meal before heading up to the observation deck.

_

Adral sat on the bench, staring at the viewport. Since they were currently within hyperspace transit, the viewport was in fact generating a digital visualization of the galaxy as they flew through it, because the ship did not want to run the risk of having passengers with Hyperspace madness. Adral really hoped people weren't crazy enough to stare at the blue dimensions of hyperspace, but unfortunately the yearly rates told otherwise.

As he sat staring at the stars, he failed to notice the sudden absence of other individuals in the room. The lights began to dim, and Adral looked behind him towards the hatch into the ships 5th deck port corridor. A man in black, military grade boots, silver, metallic wrist guards and a grayish chest plate stood in the doorway. The garments beneath the armor were a navy blue, and they appeared to be made of a thick synthetic yet flexible mesh. His helmet was the most ominous, though, having no eyeslits, just a vocalizer. Fortunately, the helmet slid down into the neck of the chestguard, revealing the face of the man. Battle scarred and aging, he had dark yet graying hair with dark, fierce eyes. Adral recognized all the tell tale signs on the armor; A Mandalorian stood before him.

The man stepped into the observation deck, hitting a button on the wall to close the door. Once feared as bounty hunters, the mandalorians were now an official part of the Galactic Military, having played a pivotal role in so many of the conflicts during the final Force Wars. Having been able to single handedly hunt down and defeat many of the Jedi and Sith who refused to surrender, Mandalore the Triumphant had accepted the Galactic Republic's request to replace the Jedi Order as the guardians of the galaxy. The Mandalorians had stepped into the role in stride, and their military culture quickly adapted into its new meld. It worked perfectly; and after millenia of being feared, that fear had been replaced with love for their rescue of the galaxy from the tyranny of the Force.

"Adral Casius, I presume?" man said. "I am Hathan Vess."  
"That would be me, yes." Adral responded. "It is an honor, sir. I did not know a Mandalorian was aboard."  
"I've kept to my quarters most of the trip," Hathan said. "Anyways, I need to speak to you about your destination. Specifically, the research that you will be working on."

Adral eyed him curiously as Hathan sat down on the bench. "I don't know much about my research yet," he told Hathan. "I've just been told to refresh myself on Korriban's history, and that Valus would show me his discovery when I arrive at the dig site. Apparently it's something that needs to be seen to be completely understood, and a refresher of Korriban's history and significance will allow me to understand the significance of what he has found."

Hathan nodded. "This I know, it is what was revealed to us by Valus when we requested information about his discovery. He had declined to allow us access to the site, however. Unfortunately for us, since he is managing an academic expedition it is completely within his rights to do just this."

Adral listened intently. He was pretty sure where this was headed, but he asked anyways. "What are you asking of me, then?"

Hathan looked at him. "I know you probably won't like this. But it is necessary to the safety of the Galactic Republic. I'm sure you've guessed as much as we have about the nature of Valus' discovery."

Adral nodded. "You think it'll be evidence of surviving Sith in the galaxy."

"Exactly. And we're being barred from seeing it because of how we may 'tamper with the evidence," Hathan said. "Which is where you come in, then."

"You want me to spy on them for you, don't you?" Adral said. Inside his head, the clockwork was running. Meticulously, he analyzed his moral convictions about the pursuit of science and his allegiance to the Galactic Republic. He understood the need for safety, but there was also the fact that if it was a post Peace Accord Sith artifact, then the Mandalorians would come in and snatch the artifact away immediately.

Hathan stared at the digital image before them intently, resting his left leg on his right. "To put it bluntly, yes. The instant we saw that you were replacing the recently deceased sullustan, we saw an ample opportunity."

Adral was startled by that statement. "Wait what? recently deceased?"

"Why yes," Hathan said. "One of the research team, the sullustan Nir, killed himself two weeks ago. Which is another reason why we suspect Sith artifacts are involved in this project- his psychological profile did not imply such a configuration for an action, and the fact that this happened on Korriban is no coincidence."

Adral had a sick feeling in his stomach. This research adventure was going to be much more of an adventure than he thought. _I need to do whats right in this situation. But what is that, exactly?_ Adral thought. _The threat of Sith in the future is very dangerous, especially if they've been hiding for almost one thousand years. The last time that happened, they managed to conquer the Old Republic._ _However, my pursuit of the scientific process is quite paramount within my convictions._ Then, a compromising idea came to Adral.

"Lets make a deal, shall we Hathan?" Adral said.

"What do you have in mind?" he responded.

"I will pass information to you about the artifacts Valus has found," Adral said. Hathan smiled in satisfaction and was about to thank him, but Adral cut him off. "However, you will not attempt to remove them from our care until I have given you information that certainly qualifies for what you consider as dangerous to the Galactic Republic."

Adral paused, taking a risk on what he was about to say. "Finally, if what has been found is as dangerous as you fear, and you must remove it from the research teams care... Allow me to remain with you on whatever you deem necessary action in regards to what is discovered, so that I may catelogue its discovery and any ensuing discoveries historically."

Hathan looked at him, impressed. "I know a few politicians who would appreciate the deal you just made. Ensuring that you will uphold safety for the Republic, while simultaneously creating an avenue for personal gain for yourself. Shrewd and intelligent."

"I try," Adral said. "So what do you say?"

"Deal."


End file.
